Chicago's Shani Davis finished 24th in Monday's men's 500 at the Olympic speed skating oval with a time of 1:10.98.
Davis, who uses the 500 merely as a tune-up for his better events, was the top U.S. finisher. Mitch Whitmore of Waukesha, Wis., was 27th and Brian Hansen of Glenview dropped out after finishing 33rd in the first heat.
Like Davis, Hansen treats the 500 merely as a training tool for his longer races.
Michel Mulder led another Dutch sweep, edging teammate Jan Smeekens by 12-thousanths of a second, while Mulder's twin brother Ronald got the bronze.
It was the first gold medal ever in the men's 500 for the Netherlands, which became the first country ever to take the top three spots in the sport's most furious race.
Smeekens led after the first of two heats and initially thought he had earned a tie for the gold after he crossed the line. But the clock adjusted to the official time, giving Michel Mulder the gold with a total of 1 minute, 9.312 seconds — carried out to the thousandths of a second in the official results to show just how close it was.
The silver went to Smeekens in 1:09.324, while Ronald Mulder grabbed the bronze with the fastest run of the day, 34.49 in the second round to finish at 1:09.46.
Chicago's Shani Davis Finishes 24h in Men's 500
Davis, who uses the 500 as a tuneup for his better events, was the top U.S. finisher
Copyright AP - Associated Press
